Umbasa and XIII
by Simon Wordsworth
Summary: "He's made it quite far, quite far indeed... Admirable with such a broken spirit. Perhaps it is his twisted soul that keeps him going...? Yes, yes that must be it..." Rated T for scenes of violence. It's crap right now, so I'm reworking it, but reviews would be appreciated!
1. Prologue

_"Something about his presence is amiss._

_Is it the contrast of his worn armor with an unused blade? _

_His apparent determination with such damp spirit?_

_He isn't the first; he certainly won't be the last._

_What is it about him, then? This lone, solitary warrior...?_

* * *

"There's _TWO_ of us, you jerk!" a girl's voice pierced the dreadful silence in the fissure with an even more dreadful shriek.

It was followed by a loud splash mixed with the metallic clatter of heavy armor. "What the heck, Allessa?!" a half-drowning knight gurgled, tearing off his helmet in a frantic endeavor to breathe.

Allessa winced at her companion's desperate, almost comedic struggle to regain his footing against the murky water and his heavy armor. "Sorry, Allen... It was-"

"Yeah, yeah," Allen cast her a squinted glare, affixing his helm once more on his head, "You heard 'the voice' again, right?"

His rhetorical remark, muffled and accented with the vibrant whine of his helmet's iron, stung her nonetheless.

"Yes, I did, if you must know." Turning away from him in curt reply, she trudged forth through the mire with the unmistakable clank of her own armor, endless walls of colorless fog obscuring her path. She sincerely hoped her snippy remark had not thrown her off track.

Allen hastened to catch up, oblivious to the possibility that they were now even more thoroughly lost, if that was even possible at this point. "Those stupid voices are going to get you killed one day."

He could almost feel Allessa's eyes rolling. "Maybe it's the voice of God." she gripped her halberd tighter, her annoyed tone unobstructed by the open face of her white metal helmet.

Now she could feel _his_ eyes rolling. "Right. God was so bloody merciful as to plant soul-devouring monsters all across the world. Yep, makes perfect sense he'd send us here if you think of it that way."

Obviously not the first time the entire issue of theological disparity had been addressed between them, but Allen conceded to let this one go... for now.

Allessa stopped dead in her tracks. Her armor's rhythmic plodding ground to a sudden halt; even her breathing seemed to all but cease.

This wasn't just hesitation.

This was fear.

Allen glanced about, unsure what possibly could make her—dauntless, faithful Allessa—freeze in terror.

"...Allessa?" he crept towards her, his hand instinctively reaching for his blade as his heart began to race.

A brief, ephemeral voice blackened his senses.

"_Brave soul, who fears not death_..."


	2. Knight's Honor

"I DO FEAR DEATH! I DO-" Allen's sudden outburst shocked Allessa to life, both caught in an interchange of all manner of fearful, incoherent cries not worthwhile (nor even remotely possible) to repeat.

After the two had concluded their banter of screams perpetuated purely by the other's scream, they finally took an awkward moment to survey their surroundings.

Clearing his throat in an endeavor to preserve what little masculinity Allessa perceived in him, Allen thanked whatever God there was his helmet was still on to conceal his crimson blush. "Ahem, yes, well." he stood up, drawing his blade. "What manner of sorcery is this?"

His manly way of saying, "Where the heck are we?"

With little time to wonder, a ghastly fiend of sorts emerged from around the stone corner, shrieking an atrocious, almost pitiful cry.

His knightly training clicking into gear, Allen at once engaged it, raising his shield to block the brute's savage blow. Allessa gasped, fear chaining her in place as the two stood interlocked in a test of strength. With trained speed, Allen bashed the humanoid monster with his steel aegis, stunning it just enough for him to perform a series of expert slashes, showering him in red as the creature slumped to the ground.

Allessa could naught but watch, horrified, staring mouth agape, first at the monster, then to Allen, who sheathed his sword as coolly as he had dispatched the foe.

Silence drew on, almost in recognition to his victory.

Then, Allen slumped suddenly to his knees before his dead opponent.

"Allen?!" Allessa dropped the halberd she clenched, overcoming her fear enough to hasten to the knight's side.

"I... I'm alright..." Allen looked at his shaking hands, awash with the blood of the monster.

Examining the creature, it appeared much like a man, albeit thin and pale to an unnatural degree. It wore armor not unlike a soldier, but it's face was drained of all semblance of humanity.

Was this thing once human...?

"I've... never killed anyone before." Allen's weak voice was barely audible through his helmet.

Allessa spared another glance to the creature. "I don't think you have yet. That... thing isn't human. It can't be..." her voice trailed off, half attempting to convince herself more than him.

Clenching his fists, Allen pushed to his feet. "Come on, I've wasted enough of our time."

Allessa thought she detected a tinge of guilt laden in his gruff words.

As suddenly as his episode had started, he was off, longsword in hand once again.

Still struggling to sort her thoughts, Allessa followed by absentminded reflex. How did they even get here? What was that thing? And that voice... she heard it clear as day just before blacking out, unlike the faded whispers that had guided her hence. Come to think of it... did Allen hear it too..?

She at last caught up to said Allen, who marched onward with an uncharacteristic determination. "Slow down! We don't even know where we're going!" Allessa reprimanded, staring with innocuous awe as he cut down another of the monstrous creatures deft as though he'd done it a thousand times before.

"All the more reason to keep moving." Allen kept his pace, armor jolting his body with each step.

Allessa followed close behind, a holy talisman clasped against her armored chest. These creatures Allen fought seemed human in most aspects... they even wore the armor of proper Boletarian soldiers. What could possess trained soldiers to attack them so...?

They continued on in silence, not wanting to give themselves away, of course, but more for the fact they were both engrossed in thought. Allen's training had kicked in again, overriding any lingering doubts or fear with his banausic machinations, calculating every move with a precision beat into him from nigh endless hours of training.

_Glance left, then right, listen for anything suspicious; watch the corners, round them on the far side, shield up... Wait! What's THAT?! Oh, just Allessa_.

His mind checked off each step, duteously repeating them at every corner.

Allessa, in turn, feared any noise on her part might spur the knight to turn and run her through purely from his soldierly instinct. Still, this hypervigilance of his allowed her some freedom to think and observe. The labyrinth in whence they trudged was... off, crooked, somehow. Giant cauldrons bubbled with a sickening brew she dared not speculate upon, but judging from the blood crusting its edges, she ventured it to be an offering to whatever terrible demon ruled here. The place itself seemed to be—or, used to be, more like— a sort of castle, or fortress perhaps, with spiraling wood staircases eaten away by decay and neglect; long decrepit hallways shivering with unnameable, aberrant malice... In any case, she could only pray they made it out alive—something of a habit she'd developed since the fog's siege began, more so since she'd entered it.

They proceeded on through the halls of perpetual stony grey, Allen's frightful, nigh atavistic skill proving more than enough to slay the sentries posted.

Allessa hated seeing him like this, those blue-green eyes dilated in wild savagery, running on pure instinct, however well trained it was; his body twitching with uncanny reactivity to every sight and sound. But that wasn't the only thing off about him. Why was his armor so dented, so worn—as if it'd seen a hundred battles? Didn't he say he hadn't killed anyone before...?

Allessa just about collided square into Allen as he came to an abrupt halt. Ever ready to lecture him, she very nearly did so before realizing his reason for stopping.

A knight ahead, more heavily armored than the rest, more so than even Allen himself; it's eyes were aglow an unnatural azure hue, gleaming with a power that impelled even Allen in all his cold reticence to stop and strategize.

"Looks tougher than the others... More armor... And glowing eyes can't be a good sign..." Allen voiced his jumble of flitting thoughts between breaths, half for his own sake and half for Allessa's as he scanned the sentinel for weaknesses.

Several grueling moments crawled by.

"Hm." he finally surmised.

Allessa turned to him in eager anticipation to whatever ingenious plan he might conjure from his trained evaluation—from the strategic mind of such a peerless knight.

Allen's stance slackened. "I got nothing."

Allessa's shoulders, hunched with enthusiasm and hands clasped likewise; dropped—just like her hopes. "...Seriously?" She resisted the overpowering urge to smack him.

"Latrian knights are trained to fight, not study." he shrugged.

"Oh Mird..." Allessa sighed.

Her saintly way of saying, "We're screwed."

A sharp gasp emanated from Allen's helmet. "Okay, I have a plan." he glanced back at the knight, ensuring he still hadn't detected them. "Alright," he clapped his gauntlets together, apparently sure in his newfound stratagem.

_ "This should prove interesting_..." Allessa fought back a chuckle.

"You bash his shield with your halberd from a distance. I'll protect you with my shield if he gets too close, and once there's an opening, I'll strike." His sharp animations in laying out the plan expressed his conviction quite well.

Pride gleamed in his visored eyes as he awaited his companion's say on it.

The blood suddenly drained from her face, eyes widening as a cold chill shivered through her body. "I... kind of..." her gaze darted about as her paling complexion flushed to crimson. "...forgot my halberd." she winced, pulling down her helmet over her red face.

Allen's entire body sagged with despair at the revelation. "You... _forgot_ your halberd?! Your only weapon?" his gestures were exaggerated, even borderline dangerous, from his flailing blade and shield. "Do they_ train_ Temple Knights to be useless?!"

Smacking away the gesturing blade with an armored gauntlet, Allessa wasted no time in firing back, "It's only because I was worried about you, stupid!" her blush spread ear to ear, a dark curl of hair peeking from her now almost cutely misaligned helmet.

"Well, you shouldn't-"

Her amber eyes widened, looking past him, "Allen! Behind you!"

The blue-eyed knight, apparently having grown tired of the escalating squabble, now charged square towards the two, Allen at the fore.

His battle instincts sparked to life, adrenaline pumping through him, the world sharpening to peak clarity.

But it wasn't fast enough.

The blue-eyed knight's blade sunk into Allen's armor. Leaping back in an already failed attempt to dodge the thrust, Allen pushed through the pain as he swung his blade in desperate attempts to counter his foe. His blade met only the unyielding steel of the knight's shield with thunderous clashes.

"_Not good... Bleeding... Have to end this quick..._" Allen hinged his shield to his back, bringing down his blade with both hands against the shield arm of his opponent again and again. Drained of its stamina as well as its patience, the azure knight gauged a slash, nicking the grooved edge of Allen's chestplate as he backstepped. Weary as he was himself, Allen collapsed against the wall, his extremities growing cold as he felt the sticky warmth of blood seeping onto his clothes.

He looked up at the knight, blurry to his fading vision and narrow visor, lacking the strength to escape. Allen could've sworn he heard a hollow chuckle as it raised its sword to finish him. This was it, his coup de grace, his final act. He was sure of it.

Yet he could not but help his resignation's turning to spite. How could he have been so careless? Maybe it was Allessa's fault... Yes, yes that was it. But to let such a feeble foe best him? And for such a failed act of self-sacrifice!

He couldn't die. Not now, not yet... He wasn't done... Was this really the end?


	3. Umbasa

"Behind ya!" a painfully familiar voice startled Allen to life again.

Allessa stood, per her taunt, behind the enemy knight, who turned around in what Allen could only expect was surprise to the girl, armed with only a devilish grin. Allessa's armored gauntlet met the knight's dark helmet, resounding with a dreadful clang enough to deafen whatever poor soul resided therein.

The strike, however heroic, seemed only to enrage the ancient knight, at least as far as Allessa could perceive in its welkin-eyed, faceless demeanor.

In hardly a moment, a blade burst from its chestplate, spattering Allessa in blood.

The lazuline rifts evaporated, its entire suit of armor crumpling in resignation.

Allen panted, withdrawing his blade with an agonizing slit. He had raised the visor of his helm, likely attempting to conserve what little breath and vision he had. His silvery hair, accented with blood and sweat, clung to his forehead, the usual fiery gleam in his cerulean eyes replaced with a frightful dullness Allessa had never witnessed.

That worried her.

"Let's... let's go." Allen took a step forward, nearly collapsing.

Allessa caught him in a clamorous meeting of steel, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to support the injured knight. "Mird, Allen! You'll be the death of both of us!"

Even he, in his dazed state, could see through her veiled scheme of blatant provocation meant to keep him together—to fuel his wistful snark that had thus far proved her sole affirmation he was alright. "Can we just get out of here?"

He had not the energy, patience, nor a list of other sentiments, to play along.

The calm response, foreign to her ears and unexpected in face of the harsh words, induced a twinge of guilt and only proved to validate her concern. "Okay..." she acquiesced, unsure what more should—could, be said.

They at last came upon a curious wall of fog, obscuring what Allessa made out to be a room behind it. At least there was _something_ behind it.

"Well, guess we've got no choice." Allen said, as though still in the lead.

Requiting to his apparent charge, as she had increasingly often found herself doing, Allessa toted them through, the fog's passing grasp leaving them devoid of all sense for a few, unnerving moments of somehow blissful terror.

As the numbness fled, she felt Allen's weight once more.

...And once the blindness passed, she immediately regretted taking them through.

A beast of utterly brobdingnagian proportions, a hulking embodiment of terror, towered over them, his intentions, in all probability—not honorable.

"Vanguard..." Allessa whispered, as if by distant memory.

"What?" Allen attempted to stand himself, achieving only a groan of pain, falling back on Allessa and jarring her back to reality.

The tricloptic creature was a spike-mottled mass of bulging grey flesh and malaligned limbs, offensive horns protruding from its head and tiny wings hardly capable of sustaining its bulbous folds stubbing from its back. Its grotesque paw clamped tight to an axe, which in itself was larger than the both of them.

The grey fog closed in behind the two, densifying, and sealing with it any hopes of escape.

"I _really_ wish you had your halberd." Allen shifted, again testing his ability to stand upright, failing even more so. "Just get out of here, Allessa, he'll squash us both if you don't."

The painful realization dawned upon him that this wound, begotten from his own stupidity, would quite fittingly herald his demise. But perhaps he could at least buy time enough for Allessa to somehow escape... Somehow.

Allessa's protective grip only tightened. "I'm not leaving you, Al-"

Ignoring the selfless stupidity he had come to expect in her, Allen shoved away from Allessa, splitting the two of them scant seconds before the great axe of the Vanguard hammered into the ground, the sheer force knocking them even further aback.

Lunged into a rather convenient position against some rubble, Allen squirmed to a posture of relative amenity; if he was going to die, he'd at least do so comfortably and on his own terms.

Well, at least he'd gotten the comfort part.

"Hey, fatty!" Allen decried, black spots now speckled his ebbing vision.

It wasn't his finest insult, he admitted, but his comedic prowess was hardly an issue in face of certain death.

Correcting his drooping visor, he finally cast aside the helmet altogether. Not like it'd be much use now. The lugged creature lumbered its way toward him, an avarice for his flesh and soul reflected in the blare of its pallid yellow eyes.

Allen chuckled to himself, aggravating his gaping injury. "What's a matter? Too much stew in yer gut? Come on, don't draw this out so much." He cursed to himself for his continual inability to mock his soon-to-be killer proper.

Vanguard seemed almost insulted, baring its labyrinthine jaws as it raised the colossal axe that foreshadowed Allen's demise.

"Sorry... Allessa..." Allen coughed under his gasps for breath. His vision had long faded to black, all semblance of warmth fleeting, replaced in turn with the skirting fringes of death's abyssal cold. It was too late. Why, then, could he not help but to smile...?

The hammer fell, the axe cleaved—the guillotine now left Allen bereft of what little life remained.

Allessa looked back, just in time to witness Allen's sacrifice. Her heart stopped with his as his form was devoured whole by the axe.

Vanguard's head crept to face Allessa, the axe digging deeper into where Allen once lay with sickening crunches. Her amber eyes widened, tears of sorrow streaming down.

As its heartless eyes rest on hers, it extracted its axe from the ensanguined earth—slowly, painfully—torturously.

It had the gall to taunt her after murdering her closest companion—her only companion. It even seemed to take some perverse pleasure in it, its features twisting into a toothy grimace.

Allessa's eyes of amber sparked ablaze, her tears to overflowing embers of her brimming anger. Vengeance would be hers, and the slightest semblance of any self-preservation had been extinguished with Allen.

The Vanguard's ungainly form heaved in one solid motion towards her, the bloodied axe ripping the air asunder on its journey to meet Allessa's demise.

She stood her ground, closing her eyes.

"Yield to me this once, Death, that vengeance might be mine." she prayed, her chest burning with fervent sincerity—knowing, feeling somehow, that it would be answered.

Her eyes, golden catalysts to the vengeance—the justice she so thirsted for—opened.

"_Umbasa_."


End file.
